The Extravagant Life: Finding True Memory in Christ

• Gospel Narrative Structure [00:32:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains how Matthew places the anointing story non-chronologically to create a thematic contrast with surrounding events.
• Desire for Legacy/Memory [00:38:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies the longing to be remembered as a driving force in human decisions, capable of leading to both beautiful and ugly outcomes.
• Biblical Exegesis of [Matthew 26](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26&version=KJV) [00:30:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the actions of the woman, the chief priests, and Judas as three different responses to Jesus and the desire for legacy.
• The Desire for Legacy and Remembrance [00:38:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explores the universal human desire to be remembered, contrasting the destructive, self-serving ambition of figures like Ernesto (Coco), Caiaphas, and Judas with the beautiful, sacrificial legacy of the unnamed woman.
• Informed Faith vs. Worldly Information [00:41:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the disciples' worldly knowledge (cost of ointment) with Mary's theological insight (understanding Jesus' impending death), arguing that true faith requires deep understanding of Jesus' mission, not just general awareness.
• Sitting at Jesus' Feet [00:47:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the cultural symbol of sitting at a teacher's feet to illustrate Mary's disposition of humility and eagerness to learn, identifying this as the source of her spiritual insight and the key to Christian intimacy.
• Intimacy and Ministry Sustainability [00:52:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor applies the concept of 'sitting at Jesus' feet' to modern ministry, asserting that mission effectiveness is limited by the depth of one's intimacy with God, warning that lack of intimacy leads to burnout or becoming 'the mission' (self-focused).
• Extravagant Love and Sacrifice [00:52:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights the value of the ointment (300 denarii/one year's wages) to demonstrate Mary's extravagant love, contrasting her generous sacrifice with Judas's greedy calculation of Jesus' impending death.
• Mary's Extravagant Worship [00:53:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the value of Mary's ointment (300 denarii/one year's wages) with Judas's betrayal (30 pieces of silver/four months' wages) to highlight the difference between reckless love and calculated greed.
• Judas's Motives vs. Mary's Heart [00:54:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Judas as a thief who understood Jesus's death only as a financial opportunity, contrasting him with Mary who understood the significance of Jesus's death and responded with intimate, public worship.
• The Theology of Being Remembered [01:01:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects Mary's story to the thief on the cross, arguing that the core of the gospel is that God remembers and values individuals even when they feel forgotten or flawed by the world.
• Communion as Sacramental Reflection [01:03:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains communion as a meal for believers that reflects Jesus's broken body and shed blood, serving as a tangible reminder of God's extravagant love and forgiveness.
• Communion and Grace [01:07:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads the congregation in prayer before taking the sacrament, emphasizing that the meal is for sinners seeking worth and grace through Christ's sacrifice.
• Divine Remembrance and Love [01:12:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references biblical examples (the unnamed woman in Bethany, the thief on the cross) to illustrate that God knows, sees, and loves individuals with extravagant love, countering the human desire for significance from lesser sources.

• Sermon Illustration [00:35:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the Disney Pixar film 'Coco' as an analogy. He contrasts the typical Disney trope of 'follow your dreams' with the film's deeper message that the desire to be remembered (symbolized by the song 'Remember Me') can be destructive if pursued selfishly, as seen in the character Ernesto de la Cruz.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the movie Coco, noting how the character Ernesto achieved his dreams at the expense of others, serving as a cautionary tale about the destructive nature of the desire to be remembered.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the historical footnotes of Caiaphas and Judas (who died in shame or suicide) with the enduring memory of the unnamed woman, whose story is still told in churches 2,000 years later.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Mary sitting at Jesus' feet while Martha served, and Mary falling at Jesus' feet when Lazarus died, using these instances to illustrate her consistent posture of learning and humility.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the cultural significance of sitting at a rabbi's or parent's feet in the Ancient Near East as a symbol of a student's disposition to learn.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal observation from his years in ministry: without the intimacy Mary pursued, ministers either burn out or become self-centered ('become the mission').
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the value of the ointment (300 denarii, roughly one year's wages) to emphasize the extravagance of Mary's gift, and contrasts this with Judas's realization that Jesus' death would end his access to the money bag.
• Sermon Illustration [00:53:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the historical/cultural context of 300 denarii (one year's wages) to illustrate the magnitude of Mary's gift, contrasting it with Judas's betrayal price of 30 pieces of silver (four months' wages).
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the cultural custom of a woman letting down her hair only for her husband to illustrate Mary's intimate and vulnerable worship of Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [00:59:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes Oscar Wilde ('where there is no extravagance, there is no love') to support the idea that true love requires extravagant expression.
• Sermon Illustration [01:01:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor draws a parallel between Mary of Bethany and the thief on the cross, noting that both were the only two people in the gospel accounts who understood the significance of Jesus's death before it happened and asked to be remembered.
• Sermon Illustration [01:12:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the story of an unnamed woman in Bethany who was shown she was not forgotten, and the thief on the cross who was told by Jesus that he would be with Him in paradise, using these to illustrate God's extravagant love and remembrance of individuals.

• Pastoral Charge [01:06:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > Non-believers are instructed to remain seated and use the time to explore faith in Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge [01:06:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Those exploring faith are invited to speak with church leadership.
• Pastoral Charge [01:12:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invitation to pray together
• Pastoral Charge [01:13:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invitation to sing together

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:19] Good morning. Welcome to Midtown Community Church. Special welcome to anyone visiting with us here today.
[00:05:27] My name is Courtney Killinger. I'm one of the elders here.
[00:05:30] We now have the opportunity to lay aside our distractions, our fears, and turn our focus to the source of our salvation, Jesus Christ.
[00:05:41] Please turn to the call to worship in your bulletin. I'll read the leader portion, and we will all recite the all portion. If you'll please stand.
[00:05:47] The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
[00:05:56] The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
[00:06:01] One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
[00:06:13] My heart says of you, seek his face.
[00:06:17] Your face, O Lord, will I seek.
[00:06:19] Let's worship.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:06:20] let us love let us love and sing and wonder let us praise the savior's name he has hushed the loud thunder he has quenched mount sinai's flame he has washed us with his blood he has
[00:06:58] washed us with his blood he washed us with his blood he has brought us night to god let us love grace and taught us gave us ears and gave us eyes he has washed us with his blood
[00:07:33] he has washed us but he has washed us with his blood he presents our souls to god the same though fierce temptation it's hard to bear us for our strong salvation Holding view of God's blood
[00:08:18] Soon will bring us home to God Let us wonder grace and justice Point to mercy Went through grace in Christ Our trust is justice Smiles and asks no more He washed us, washed us, washed us
[00:08:53] With his blood Secured our way to God Praise and join the chorus The saints in the high Here they trusted him before us Praises, praises fill the sky Thou hast washed us with thy blood
[00:09:32] Thou art worthy of God It is your faithfulness, O God Wrestle with the sinner's restless heart Lead us by still waters into mercy Keep us apart People, even though It is your love and justice
[00:11:13] God of Jacob Who used the weak to lead the strong In the song of your salvation Yes, he does!
[00:11:41] And nurture children Now able to join together with Christians all over the world

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:13:27] and throughout the centuries by confessing our faith.
[00:13:30] If you'll turn to the Confession of Faith in the bulletin, we will recite together the Apostles' Creed.
[00:13:36] I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
[00:13:42] I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
[00:13:51] He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
[00:13:56] He descended into hell.
[00:13:58] The third day he rose again from the dead.
[00:14:02] He ascended into heaven and is seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
[00:14:08] From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
[00:14:12] I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
[00:14:24] We now collect our tithes and offerings and sing our song of thanksgiving.
[00:14:27] If the ushers would please come forward.
[00:14:29] If you are visiting with us, please feel no need to give.
[00:14:32] We're just happy you're here worshiping with us.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:15:22] Out shines the sun What a

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:15:30] It just is

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:15:32] A God Yee-haw Worship the Consumes like Fire

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:16:20] Today Rescue

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:17:44] Father Blessings flow

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:19:24] Amen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:20:01] That's a good reminder for us as we just entered into a time of Thanksgiving of just being able to give back to God the things that were no longer us.
[00:20:09] He is the God that blesses us with all things.
[00:20:12] And one of those things that he blesses us with is community.
[00:20:15] And so this is a great time to reach around and greet someone around you.
[00:20:18] Kids, you are dismissed for your classrooms.
[00:20:20] If you can meet your teachers here up front, we can enter into a time of community.
[00:20:27] Amen.
[00:21:04] If you'd like to find your way back to your seats.
[00:22:41] Good morning.
[00:22:41] My name is Anderson.
[00:22:42] I'm one of the pastors here.
[00:22:44] It's really great to see all of you.
[00:22:46] We're just going to do a couple of announcements.
[00:22:48] You can find these on pages 11 and 12 of your bulletin every week.
[00:22:52] And so just glad that we get to continue being the church together through some of these things.
[00:22:59] If you want to look on page 11, there's a church-wide or Ridge Road-wide picnic for all of the nonprofits and ministries here on campus today.
[00:23:10] And so after the service, I believe they're providing some pulled chicken, barbecue chicken.
[00:23:14] And if you would like to come, there's still time.
[00:23:18] You can go grab a side or a dessert and then come back at 12 o'clock.
[00:23:22] There will be a picnic here outside.
[00:23:25] And so that's one thing to consider.
[00:23:27] Another thing that we're trying out this summer is just some churchwide events.
[00:23:32] And so the first one is this upcoming Thursday.
[00:23:35] I should have made the announcement when the kids were still in here because it's ice cream at Two Roosters.
[00:23:40] I think they would have been able to really tell the parents, hey, we should go to this.
[00:23:44] And you know what?
[00:23:45] You should go to this.
[00:23:47] 6.30 Thursday, two roosters on Lake Boone Trail.
[00:23:51] Wednesday.
[00:23:51] What did I say, Tuesday?
[00:23:53] Thursday.
[00:23:54] It's going to be Wednesday.
[00:23:57] I probably won't be there.
[00:24:00] Fingers crossed.
[00:24:01] We are expecting a baby any day now.
[00:24:04] And the last announcement that I have is for, you can find it on page 12.
[00:24:09] I need some volunteers, some people that would love to serve this summer for Worship 101.
[00:24:15] Worship 101 is something that we tried out last year, and I believe the kids really enjoyed it.
[00:24:20] It's an opportunity during the summer when kids don't have classrooms to be able, for four weeks, to be able for them to have some type of teaching.
[00:24:29] And the desire of it is this, that they belong, that our kids are very much members of our church, that they get to bring joy as you hear them sing the doxology, you get to be able to see the
[00:24:42] community that they are able to have outside after the service, and also just the way that they do serve our church through the, oh I'm going to get it wrong, HLKP, Helping Little Kids program. Is
[00:24:55] that right? Is that right? Yes. So listen, our kids belong, and this is Worship 101 is an opportunity to teach them and let them know the ways that they get to interact with the big church. And so
[00:25:08] if you are interested at all, if you've never served in kids, you're not disqualified.
[00:25:15] If anything, this is for you. This is an opportunity for you to get to see the joy and the wonder that our kids have and how we get to partner along with them to be able to see more
[00:25:25] of who Jesus is and who he's calling us to. Specifically, if you know how to play the piano, I would love for you to volunteer. This is one thing that we want to do is to teach our kids
[00:25:35] songs and hymns. And so if you would like to help me, you've probably heard me singing sometimes, I need help to be able to teach our kids the beauty of using our voices to worship God. And so
[00:25:48] please email me. My email is in the bulletin, the last page of the bulletin. I would love to be able to serve alongside of you this summer. With that, we're going to turn our attention to God's Word.
[00:25:59] Courtney is going to come up and pray for us, and then we get to receive from the Lord.

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:26:20] Father in heaven, we come before you this morning to give you honor and glory.
[00:26:25] We worship you as our loving Father.
[00:26:28] We give you praise for the free gift of salvation given to us through your Son, Jesus Christ.
[00:26:34] Lord, we worship you as holy creator of heaven and earth.
[00:26:38] Of all these incredible attributes, you give us the honor of calling you Father.
[00:26:42] Lord, we thank you for this incredible love that you have for us, your children.
[00:26:46] Father, we confess that we take your love for granted far too often.
[00:26:50] We turn away from you and follow what we believe is best for us.
[00:26:54] We rely on our own will for comfort and happiness.
[00:26:58] We realize that we never find true happiness and comfort apart from you.
[00:27:02] Lord, please forgive us and lead us back to you.
[00:27:05] We thank you for Jesus, who is the propitiation for our sins, and his sacrifice that allows us to commune with you.
[00:27:12] Thank you for this gift of grace that is nothing of our own merit.
[00:27:16] Lord, we thank you for all the gifts that you have given us.
[00:27:19] Thank you for our community of believers.
[00:27:21] Thank you for your word given to us through scripture.
[00:27:25] Thank you that we can freely access your word at any time.
[00:27:28] Thank you for Jesus.
[00:27:29] Thank you that he has paid the ultimate price for our sin.
[00:27:33] Thank you for the Holy Spirit which dwells in us and assures us as your sons and daughters.
[00:27:38] Father, we thank you for the abundance of new life here at Midtown.
[00:27:42] Thank you for the recent baptisms we have seen.
[00:27:44] and we thank you for the expecting mothers and fathers.
[00:27:48] We ask that you be with the parents of young children.
[00:27:51] Guide and instruct them in your way.
[00:27:53] Be with our expecting mothers.
[00:27:55] We pray for their health and the health of the children.
[00:27:58] Father, we ask that you be with those that may be hurting at this time.
[00:28:02] Be with those who may be without a job.
[00:28:04] Help them to find employment that provides and also helps advance the gospel.
[00:28:08] Be with those who may be going through difficult financial situations, grieving the loss of a family member or suffering from health issues please provide comfort and peace to all of those we ask that you be with those
[00:28:21] who are working to advance the gospel be with our missions organizations and all those who spread your word to your people let the gospel of Jesus Christ be spread in Raleigh and throughout the world
[00:28:31] Father, we now turn our time to your word let this passage touch us and change us give us ears to hear and eyes to see the love that you have for us this morning through your word. Be with Pastor Lindsey as he preaches this morning. All this we
[00:28:46] ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Good morning. Today's scripture reading comes from

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:05] Matthew 26, 6 through 13. And when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his
[00:29:18] head as he reclined at the table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, why this waste for this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor but Jesus aware
[00:29:32] of this said to them why do you trouble the woman for she has done a beautiful thing to me for you always have the poor with you but you will not always have me in pouring this ointment
[00:29:43] on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial truly I say to you wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she has done will also be told in the memory of her
[00:29:56] This is the word of the Lord.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:29:57] We've been working our way through a sermon series on the Gospel of Matthew this year.
[00:30:13] And most of what we've been doing is looking directly at Jesus, either the works of his hands, like his miracles, the words that have come from his mouth, his preaching.
[00:30:25] But the passage before us today is actually an invitation for us to learn about Jesus, not directly, but indirectly.
[00:30:37] through the actions of a woman in the town of Bethany.
[00:30:43] This takes place about six days before Jesus' death.
[00:30:46] And if you caught the very last sentence that McNair read, Jesus concludes this whole passage in this way.
[00:30:57] Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.
[00:31:03] in all the Gospels, you will not find a more glowing endorsement of another person's actions than what takes place right here in Bethany in Matthew 26. So the anointing of Jesus in Bethany, it's included in three of the four Gospel accounts. Matthew talks about it, obviously.
[00:31:26] Mark, John. The only reason I think Luke does not record this story in his gospel is because he chose to include a different story of a sinful woman who similarly anointed Jesus with oil.
[00:31:45] That's found in Luke 7. Now, I don't know if you know this, but each of the gospel writers, when they talk about stories from Jesus' life.
[00:31:54] They'll talk about the exact same story, but they'll do so from different perspectives.
[00:32:01] Oftentimes, it is a matter of being unique to their own writing style.
[00:32:07] Some of it has to do with the purpose they have in mind or the specific writing audience that they're writing to.
[00:32:14] In many ways, it's a reflection of this idea that the gospel is like a diamond.
[00:32:19] you can turn it ever so slightly, and you can see the very same story, but from a slightly different perspective, a different angle. Matthew is unique amongst the four gospel writers in that he will occasionally place stories outside of chronological order, and this is a great
[00:32:45] example of this. So if Matthew was going to tell the story of Jesus in a purely chronological fashion, then the anointing of Jesus in Bethany should actually be placed at the end of Matthew chapter 20, not right here in chapter 26. Matthew intentionally places this story between two events
[00:33:11] that actually happened four days later.
[00:33:16] Now, this isn't because Matthew misremembered when this event took place.
[00:33:20] He has access to all the same sources, being in relationship with the other gospel writers.
[00:33:26] I think it's because he believes that in order to appreciate what this woman is doing here in Bethany, we need to see how stunning of a contrast her actions are when contrasted with the other men and how they relate to Jesus in the days just before his death.
[00:33:49] So, all right, if you've got your Bible, this is a great time to have it open.
[00:33:53] Before the anointing that we are told about here, there is another story that takes place, the first part of chapter 26.
[00:34:02] We're told that the chief priests and the elders, They held a secret meeting at the palatial home of a high priest of Israel, a guy named Caiaphas.
[00:34:14] And in this meeting, they begin plotting how they are going to assassinate Jesus.
[00:34:20] If you go to the passage right after the anointing in Bethany, you see another story.
[00:34:28] In this case, it is Judas Iscariot.
[00:34:31] He's one of the 12.
[00:34:32] and in this instance, he's talking with the same chief priests and he begins with a question to them.
[00:34:41] What will you give me if I deliver Jesus into your hands?
[00:34:45] And they agreed it would be 30 pieces of silver and that would do the trick.
[00:34:50] And from that moment on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
[00:34:56] So Matthew sandwiches our story of a woman doting on Jesus between two other stories on the front end and the back end featuring two prominent men who are trying to kill Jesus.
[00:35:14] And it's all because I think Matthew's trying to set up a question for every one of us.
[00:35:21] and this question is answered in different ways by each of these three different people.
[00:35:30] What's the question that Matthew wants us to answer? Have you ever seen the movie Coco, Disney Pixar? That's not the question. Raise your hand if you've seen it, by the way. I'm just curious. Okay, a good number of you. This is probably my favorite Disney Pixar film that's
[00:35:49] ever been made. The premise of the film is that there's this 12-year-old boy named Miguel, and he's this aspiring musician who wants to follow his dreams and to be remembered as one of the greatest musicians in the world, even if his family disapproves of this dream. Now, one of my
[00:36:11] major critiques of most Disney films is that the message in a lot of Disney films is about following your dreams even if it disappoints your parents? If you look closely, so many of the Disney films
[00:36:25] are about this. Follow your dreams even if your parents don't like it, right? So if my girls try to be like Ariel from Little Mermaid and follow after their Prince Eric against my wishes, I'm going to get a restraining order against Prince Eric. Coco is different. This is,
[00:36:47] from my perspective, a refreshing correction from many of the previous Disney films because it actually challenges this tired trope of you just need to follow your heart no matter what your loved ones think. And the reason why is because in the movie, Miguel's idol is this famous
[00:37:11] musician, a guy named Ernesto de la Cruz, and he wrote this hit song called Remember Me.
[00:37:18] And this song is sort of played throughout the movie, and it's almost this mantra, this undercurrent that serves as the heartbeat for every single character in the film. They are all trying to live out this longing to be remembered, and they do it in a ton of different ways.
[00:37:36] Well, when Miguel finally meets his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, at first, Ernesto seems like the perfect mentor for him to help him define his dreams.
[00:37:47] He even says to Miguel, he says, I had to have faith in my dream.
[00:37:53] No one was going to hand it to me.
[00:37:54] It was up to me to reach for that dream, to grab it tight, and to make it come true.
[00:37:59] And so you go and do the same.
[00:38:01] By the end of the movie, we realize that Ernesto, in fact, achieved his dreams, but he did so at the expense of everybody around him.
[00:38:13] And so one of the messages of this movie, Coco, is that if we're not careful, this desire to be noticed, to be remembered by others, it can actually destroy us as much as it can save us.
[00:38:31] Whether you're a Christian follower of Jesus or an atheist, I think this is one of the core questions that drives a lot of the decisions we make in this life.
[00:38:47] Every one of us here, we want to be remembered.
[00:38:52] We want to be memorable people.
[00:38:57] But like the movie Coco, what Matthew 26 tells us is that you can answer this longing, this ultimate human question in ways that are beautiful, but also in ways that are profoundly ugly.
[00:39:12] I really have come to the conclusion that some of our worst moments as human beings, it often comes out of this desire to do things that are memorable.
[00:39:23] But at some point, that desire to be memorable, it sort of twists us in a way that is unhealthy.
[00:39:32] The chief priests.
[00:39:33] we need to appreciate the fact that they too want to be remembered.
[00:39:39] They're trying to be religious leaders for an oppressed people.
[00:39:43] They want their lives to count, but unfortunately they see Jesus as an obstacle to their dreams.
[00:39:51] In the case of Judas, he thinks that the way to become memorable is probably less so through the acquisition of power.
[00:40:00] Instead, what we're going to start to uncover is he thinks the way to become memorable is through the acquisition of money.
[00:40:08] Now, in the end, Caiaphas, the high priest of Israel, he is going to become a footnote in history.
[00:40:17] Judas, he'll eventually hang himself.
[00:40:23] Whereas what we're doing here right now is living proof that Jesus' declaration at the end of this passage was spot on.
[00:40:32] 2,000 years later, and there's a church in Raleigh who's telling a story in memory of this woman.
[00:40:42] What I want to do with our remaining time together is to consider what made this woman so memorable according to Jesus.
[00:40:53] What did Jesus see that you and I need to see?
[00:40:57] And then we'll close by considering what is it that this woman saw in Jesus that enabled her to become such a memorable character in the gospel accounts.
[00:41:13] All right, what did Jesus see in this woman?
[00:41:18] First, Jesus saw a faith that was remarkably informed.
[00:41:25] So for whatever reason, Matthew did not feel compelled to tell us this woman's name.
[00:41:31] I'll give my suggestion at the end of the sermon of why that might be the case.
[00:41:35] But if you go to John's Gospel, in his version, he tells us that this unnamed woman is, in fact, Mary of Bethany.
[00:41:43] So Mary's sister is Martha.
[00:41:48] Her brother is Lazarus, right, whom Jesus raised from the dead.
[00:41:52] In this case, it was probably about two weeks before.
[00:41:55] She anoints Jesus with what Matthew calls, quote, an alabaster flask, a very expensive ointment.
[00:42:04] Now, if you caught it, we're told that when she does this, the disciples are indignant at her actions.
[00:42:13] That word literally means to flare your nostrils, you are so angry.
[00:42:20] Now, it's also worth noting that if you go to Mark's version of this story, we learn that the disciples actually know the exact amount that this ointment is worth.
[00:42:30] And so what these disciples are revealing in this dinner scene is that these are very well-informed men, right?
[00:42:37] They know things about the world.
[00:42:39] They know how much things cost.
[00:42:42] But they are also men who are merely informed about the things of this world.
[00:42:50] In contrast, here's how Jesus describes Mary.
[00:42:54] He says, why do you trouble the woman?
[00:42:57] For she has done a beautiful thing to me.
[00:42:59] For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.
[00:43:03] In pouring this ointment on my body, she's done it to prepare me for burial.
[00:43:09] So Jesus is suggesting that Mary is the only one in the room, maybe the only person among all of Jesus' followers, who understands that Jesus is about to die.
[00:43:25] So the type of ointment that Mary uses here is the kind of ointment that is typically used on dead bodies to stifle the smell of decay.
[00:43:37] It's part of a burial ritual to honor people after they've passed.
[00:43:42] Now, if that's the case, why would Mary not wait until Jesus has died to perform this customary ritual?
[00:43:57] I would suggest it's because she understood not only that Jesus was going to die, that she understood the manner in which Jesus was going to die.
[00:44:11] She knew that he was going to be crucified.
[00:44:14] And anybody of that day would know that if you are crucified as a criminal, you are typically not afforded the burial ritual of anointing that would be given to your average citizen in Jerusalem.
[00:44:30] And so, I don't know if you're putting this together, But what all this means is that Mary understands far more than we first realized about what's going on here, the bigger picture.
[00:44:42] She may or may not understand all the implications of Jesus' death on the cross as a substitutionary atonement for our sins.
[00:44:51] But regardless, this puts her in a category that none of the other disciples are in.
[00:44:57] In fact, just before this passage, if you were to look back at the beginning of chapter 26, we're told that Jesus tells the disciples, and he will have done this three times, that he tells them explicitly, the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.
[00:45:17] And so the disciples heard that Jesus was going to die.
[00:45:26] Jesus explicitly told them, and this happened before he got to Bethany, right?
[00:45:31] So Mary wasn't even privy to that conversation.
[00:45:34] And yet, what we've discovered throughout the way is that the disciples reject this idea of Jesus' death.
[00:45:41] And it's interesting, right?
[00:45:42] Because right here, the disciples are proving that they are not even listening to Jesus in this very dinner.
[00:45:50] They aren't even picking up on what Jesus is saying.
[00:45:53] It's going over their head.
[00:45:54] They are too caught up in being angry at this woman who had the audacity to walk into this room and to waste all this money.
[00:46:04] You know, after this dinner takes place, Peter especially remains obstinately against this idea of Jesus' death.
[00:46:15] He will eventually cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest with a sword.
[00:46:22] He's violently opposed to Jesus' death.
[00:46:27] And yet here, we have Mary acknowledging with both humility and tenderness what Jesus is about to walk into six days from now.
[00:46:40] By all appearances, the disciples have logged more time with Jesus than anybody else over the last three years, especially including Mary.
[00:46:51] She wasn't part of the traveling caravan as other women were.
[00:46:56] And so here's sort of the million-dollar question.
[00:47:00] How is it that Mary, of all people, gets what's going to happen to Jesus and all these other people who've logged way more minutes with Jesus don't.
[00:47:12] All right, simple reason is that Mary loved Jesus' feet more than anybody else.
[00:47:20] Mary loved Jesus' feet more than anybody else.
[00:47:23] All right, so what am I talking about?
[00:47:24] Well, you know the story of the first time that Jesus had a meal with Mary.
[00:47:32] And so this happened earlier in the gospel accounts.
[00:47:37] Martha, Mary's sister, realized that Jesus was in town.
[00:47:40] So she invited Jesus over for dinner.
[00:47:44] While they were there, Martha was doing what a woman, culturally speaking at this time, was supposed to be doing, right?
[00:47:51] She wasn't going to be sitting down with the guests.
[00:47:53] She was there to serve Jesus, to do the dishes, prepare the food.
[00:47:58] But you remember what Mary was doing when Martha was doing all that work?
[00:48:04] Here's what the gospel says.
[00:48:05] And Martha had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
[00:48:15] When Lazarus died a short while later, Jesus heard the news of his death.
[00:48:22] He came to Bethany to come and be part of the funeral procession before he raised Lazarus from the dead.
[00:48:31] All the different family members came up to Jesus when he first arrived.
[00:48:35] But of all his family members, only one person actually fell down at Jesus' feet.
[00:48:44] It wasn't Martha.
[00:48:46] It was Mary.
[00:48:49] And here we are at a dinner party.
[00:48:52] And of all the people at this dinner party, there's only one person who was down by Jesus' feet.
[00:48:58] And yet again, it's Mary.
[00:49:01] Now, it's not that Mary had a foot fetish as it relates to Jesus.
[00:49:05] What I think all of these passages show is that Mary has this inner disposition to sit and learn from Jesus.
[00:49:17] So this may be helpful to know, but in the ancient Near Eastern culture, sitting at someone's feet is highly symbolic.
[00:49:28] It reflects the disposition of somebody who wants to learn from the person whose feet they are sitting at.
[00:49:37] And so when it came to children, children would customarily sit at their parents' feet, and that's where they would learn things about life.
[00:49:47] If a pupil decided that they wanted to learn from a rabbi, they would speak of whose feet are you sitting at in order to learn.
[00:49:58] And so I don't think it's a coincidence, right, that the one person who seemingly understands the significance of Jesus' death happens to be the one person who over and over again in the gospel accounts
[00:50:11] is the one person who is always at Jesus' feet.
[00:50:15] They are trying to tell us something.
[00:50:18] That Mary, at this point, may be more theologically grounded than any of the other disciples.
[00:50:28] And I wonder if that's something that we can actually learn as well.
[00:50:33] If you want to be memorable in the kingdom of God, if you want to stand out, if you want to have an enduring ministry impact, it has to do with whether or not, metaphorically speaking,
[00:50:44] you become a person who is committed to sitting at the feet of Jesus on a regular basis.
[00:50:52] We know this.
[00:50:55] We live in this age of technology such that we have access to more information, more quickly than any generation in history.
[00:51:06] And so the question for us is not whether or not we are informed people.
[00:51:10] We are more informed about world events, people's lives, than we've ever been.
[00:51:16] The real question is whose feet are we at?
[00:51:26] What's the information source that we are most committed to sitting at the feet of?
[00:51:31] To be a Christian, right, is to say that the worth of Jesus is greater than the worth of any other information source that I could either consume or buy in this world, on computer, social media, whatever it may be.
[00:51:47] And so if you want to understand something of God's purposes in your life, where you fit in the context of this world or the kingdom, it really is connected to how committed you are to sitting at the feet of Jesus.
[00:52:03] Said another way, Your mission for God can only go as far as your intimacy with God will take you.
[00:52:11] You know, I've been in ministry for quite a few years now, and as I've sort of seen colleagues kind of come and go, one of the things that I've learned is that in the absence of the kind of intimacy
[00:52:27] that Mary is consistently pursuing throughout the Gospels, one of two things will happen.
[00:52:35] you will either burn out of the mission field or give it enough time and you will actually become the mission.
[00:52:41] All right.
[00:52:45] Jesus saw an informed faith, but he also saw an extravagant love.
[00:52:50] So Mary was using ointment made from a root, which at the time you could only find in the country of India.
[00:52:59] Now, we learn from the other gospel accounts, the disciples tell us that this ointment that she had in her possession could be sold for about 300 denarii.
[00:53:09] 300 denarii would translate in our terms to about one year's worth of wages for a full-time labor.
[00:53:19] Now, we don't know how Mary came into possession of such an extravagant product.
[00:53:24] It's possible that she was a woman of great wealth.
[00:53:27] I think the most likely scenario is that this was some sort of a family heirloom that have been passed down from generation to generation.
[00:53:38] Regardless of where she got this, it doesn't change the simple fact that in today's terms, Mary dropped 40 Gs on Jesus' feet.
[00:53:50] That is no small amount.
[00:53:54] Now, I will say this.
[00:53:56] Of all the people who are at this dinner party, I think there is actually one other person at this dinner who actually knew what Mary knew, that Jesus was going to die.
[00:54:09] Unlike the rest of the disciples, Judas is the one disciple who actually sees the writing on the wall.
[00:54:18] He's looking at all these angry religious leaders.
[00:54:21] He sees all the people who are conspiring against him, and he's able to put it together.
[00:54:28] He recognizes that they are going to find a way to kill Jesus.
[00:54:34] And because Judas is motivated by money, he realizes there really isn't going to be a money bag for him to hold any longer.
[00:54:42] That was one of his main roles among the 12 disciples.
[00:54:45] He held the money bag.
[00:54:46] And so he's probably thinking at this point, like, this was a great ride, but it's now coming to an end.
[00:54:51] So I've got to squeeze out whatever money I can get from this relationship with Jesus because it is about to come to a screeching halt.
[00:55:04] It's interesting, if you go to John's gospel, as he tells this story, we actually learn that when it speaks of the disciples being indignant, Judas was the one who actually led the charge.
[00:55:20] In fact, in John's gospel, he's the one who says that this ointment should be given to the poor because it's worth over 300 denarii.
[00:55:32] and if you go to John's account, he gives a sidebar statement, sort of like an inside scoop as to what was going on with Judas, and here's what he says. Judas said this not because he
[00:55:48] cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it, and it honestly makes sense that Judas is the one who
[00:56:01] calculates that this ointment is worth a year's worth of wages, right? Because this is the same Judas who's all about money. I'm sure he walks into every room and he's calculating the worth of every single thing in there. He's the guy who ends up betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver,
[00:56:23] which interestingly enough is worth only four months wages. What a contrast, right? A woman who blows a year's worth, and a man who sells out Jesus for four months' worth. For Judas, Jesus's death, it feels like something that he can maybe get some money out of it. But for Mary,
[00:56:49] right, Jesus's death feels like something that she wants to cherish. Their differences, even though they both understand that Jesus is going to die, their differences in how they act in this dinner have seen, they flow out of fundamentally different understandings of the significance of what is
[00:57:07] about to happen to Jesus, right? I mean, look at Judas. He keeps his real motives secret, whereas Mary quite literally lets her hair down. I don't know if you realize this, but it is customary
[00:57:22] that a woman will only let down her hair in private in a relationship with her husband.
[00:57:31] And so she's showing herself to be a woman who is willing to let down her hair before Jesus no matter who else is around, right?
[00:57:40] Judas is somebody who's hiding behind religious words whereas she's exposing her truest self before Jesus.
[00:57:49] You know, we learned from Mark's gospel that when she decided to break this flask, the ointment was so pervasive that it filled the entire room.
[00:58:00] it was an overdose of ointment.
[00:58:06] Judas is an incredibly calculated guy, and you will be calculated too if the way that you become somebody who's worth remembering is based upon your possessions.
[00:58:18] But if you're somebody like Mary, you will be perceived as somebody who is reckless with your possessions.
[00:58:26] Now, I will make this sidebar statement that I don't think Jesus, when he's talking about the poor you will always have with you, I don't think he's against caring for the poor.
[00:58:38] In fact, I think it's the opposite.
[00:58:40] He's setting the stage for what will be the church's main mission upon his ascension to heaven.
[00:58:46] And so that's really the impetus behind him saying, for the poor you will always have with you, meaning after I've gone, the poor are the ones that you need to be bringing the gospel to.
[00:58:59] But I think Jesus is also saying that if we are concerned for the poor in a way that is apart from the worship of Jesus, that will not be sustainable.
[00:59:10] You know, Judas proves himself to be a man who's trying to turn attention away from Jesus.
[00:59:15] Mary is trying to turn all of the attention of everybody in the room upon him.
[00:59:21] Oscar Wilde, the famous playwright, he said, where there is no extravagance, there is no love.
[00:59:27] And where there is no love, there is no understanding.
[00:59:32] Where there is no extravagance, there is no love.
[00:59:35] And where there is no love, there is no understanding.
[00:59:37] And I think this is what Jesus saw.
[00:59:40] A woman who had real understanding, a woman with real extravagance, with real love.
[00:59:46] But I'd also like to suggest, and this sort of gets to the final point here, is that these things were true of her.
[00:59:57] She was remarkably informed.
[00:59:59] She was incredibly extravagant because of what she saw in Jesus.
[01:00:07] And what she saw in Jesus was someone who knew exactly who she was.
[01:00:12] You know, I think Matthew's intentional here in not naming her.
[01:00:16] in his version of the story, because he wants us to see a guy whose name everybody knows, Caiaphas, the high priest of Israel. He wants us to hear the name Judas. He's the treasure among the 12, and yet she is content to be a no-named person in the eyes of others.
[01:00:39] And it's interesting as well that a lot of people are talking in this dinner scene. Mary is the one person doesn't say a single word. She didn't say anything. And I think what it communicates
[01:00:58] is that Jesus saw a woman that was worthy of being loved, even if she was a no-name, even if there were men who were flaring their nostrils at her. She broke a vase that was worth
[01:01:13] about 300 denarii. But that's nothing when she realized what Jesus was about to do for her.
[01:01:22] Jesus would allow his own body to be broken, a body that carries the worth of eternity so that she could be counted as a daughter of her heavenly father.
[01:01:36] Remember Me, it's more than just the title of a song for a Disney film.
[01:01:42] I don't know if you thought about this, but do you know who else said the words, remember me in the gospel accounts?
[01:01:51] Do you remember?
[01:01:53] The person who said remember me in the gospel accounts happens to be, if I'm not mistaken, the only other person who understood the significance of Jesus's death before he died. And I'm talking about the thief on the cross. Right there on the cross,
[01:02:12] the thief said to Jesus, remember me. Remember me, Jesus, when you come into your kingdom.
[01:02:21] And Jesus responded, truly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. The thief saw what Mary of Bethany saw, that in the person of Jesus, we are seen and we're remembered by God himself.
[01:02:40] And I think this really gets to the heart of the gospel because it means that no matter how forgotten you may feel by others at this moment, whether at work, at bosses, at school, amongst
[01:02:51] friends, no matter how forgettable of a person you may feel in this world, and no matter what mistakes you've made. You know, everybody here, we want to be remembered. But Jesus came that we might
[01:03:10] be known by the most significant person in heaven or earth. That is the one who created us.
[01:03:18] And that's a pretty powerful thing. When you realize that you are remembered by the God of the universe, it will transform you as you sit at the feet of that person. And you'll start to
[01:03:30] become something more like the Mary that we see here in Bethany. You know, the sacrament of communion is Jesus's way of saying that what made Mary's actions so memorable is that it serves as a mere reflection of what Jesus does for every one of us and what he has done for every one of us.
[01:03:54] Jesus knows exactly who you are. He knows the mistakes you've made even this past week.
[01:04:03] He knows your flaws, and yet he remembers you.
[01:04:12] You will not find a more extravagant love in this world than the love that God has for us because he was willing to break his most treasured possession, his one and only son, so that you could be counted as a son or a daughter of your heavenly father.
[01:04:32] And so the sacrament of communion is really an opportunity for us to see that Jesus is the true Mary in our lives.
[01:04:40] He's the one who is willing to give of himself so that we could be remembered by the God of heaven and earth no matter what we've done or haven't done or should have done.
[01:04:50] You are loved and known and remembered by your heavenly Father.
[01:04:55] This sacrament of communion is an opportunity for us to remember that on the night before Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and he broke it and he gave it to his disciples He said, this represents my body that was broken for you.
[01:05:14] In the same manner, after the supper, he took the cup, and he said, this cup, it represents my blood that was shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
[01:05:21] Drink from it, all of you.
[01:05:23] This sacrament of communion is meant to be a meal that is only for people who have put their faith in the person of Jesus Christ.
[01:05:32] And it's for people who understand, not simply that Jesus died, that they understand the purpose for which Jesus died.
[01:05:42] And so if you have put your faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, if you believe that your worth is ultimately found not in whatever power you can get in this world, whatever possessions you have,
[01:05:54] but it's in having in possession the love and the grace of Jesus Christ in your life, this is a sacrament for you.
[01:06:01] If you have not gotten to a point in your life where you can say that I've put my faith in the Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose three days later.
[01:06:11] Instead of taking the Sacrament of Communion, we would encourage you to stay seated during this time.
[01:06:16] Use this as an opportunity to begin exploring what it looks like to have faith in Jesus.
[01:06:21] If you want to continue that exploration, know that Anderson, myself, elders, deacons, women's shepherding team, we'd love to have a conversation with you.
[01:06:30] Know that you can come back to Midtown at any point in time and continue to explore your faith in Jesus.
[01:06:36] But once you've gotten to that point where you have actually put your faith in the Jesus Christ who died on the cross for your sins, know that this is the point when you might be able to come
[01:06:46] and take this sacrament of communion together.
[01:06:50] Here's the way we do communion here at Midtown Community Church.
[01:06:53] I'll pray for us, and then the people serving would come forward at that time, and we'll ask that you'll come up front to receive the elements through either the center two aisles.
[01:07:04] You'll pinch off a piece of bread, The gluten-free option will be provided in my right, your far left.
[01:07:09] You'll take a cup from the trays.
[01:07:12] The outer ring is grape juice.
[01:07:14] Everything else is wine, so take according to your conscience.
[01:07:17] You'll exit through the exterior aisles, return to your seat.
[01:07:20] After everybody's been served, I'll then lead us so that we as a community of faith can take the sacrament of communion together.
[01:07:26] Let me pray, and if those who are serving would come forward this time.
[01:07:36] Heavenly Father, we really do have embedded in each one of us this longing to be remembered.
[01:07:47] And oftentimes, we spend so much of our lives trying to be remembered by people who are far less significant than the God of the universe.
[01:07:58] And so we thank you for this Sacrament of Communion because it reminds us that this is a meal for sinners.
[01:08:05] This is a meal for people who recognize that we're often looking for love and significance and worth in all the wrong places.
[01:08:12] But we can come to this table again, and this is a place where we can receive grace and to know because your son was broken on the cross 2,000 years ago on our behalf, we have worth because of the eternal worth
[01:08:30] of what he did on that cross.
[01:08:33] So Heavenly Father, I pray that you would ground us in your love.
[01:08:36] May this be an opportunity that we can sit at your feet, Jesus, and see your love and receive it afresh.
[01:08:43] We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
[01:08:45] Jesus said, this is my body.
[01:12:01] It was broken for you when you eat of this, remember me.
[01:12:20] Jesus then said, this cup that represents my blood was shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.
[01:12:24] Drink for all of you.
[01:12:28] Let's pray.
[01:12:34] Heavenly Father, 2,000 years ago, the town of Bethany, you let an unnamed woman know that she is not forgotten, that she is known and she is loved by our Heavenly Father.
[01:12:55] You also let a thief on a cross know that the God of the universe had not forgotten him.
[01:13:05] And I pray that you would help us to believe that those words that were spoken to these people, a son and a daughter, their Heavenly Father, that it's true for us.
[01:13:16] You see us, you know us, and you love us.
[01:13:21] You have loved us with an extravagant love.
[01:13:24] Help us to live in that reality.
[01:13:27] In Jesus' name.

[01:13:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:13:29] He's worthy of it all.
[01:13:31] Let's sing together.
[01:13:31] Your benediction, go with these words from 1 Peter 2.

[01:18:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:18:48] It's a reminder of who you are.
[01:18:53] You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
[01:19:07] Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.
[01:19:11] Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
[01:19:15] Amen. Go in peace.